Valerie writes:
Our baby boy is due in 2 weeks! My husband and I have been volleying names back and forth since the 20 week ultrasound and haven’t come up with an agreed upon name. Here are some of the pertinent facts:
Our daughter’s name is Berkeley Rose
Our new son’s middle name and last name will be Alan Gross
Since our son’s initials will end with “AG”, we need to eliminate any name starting with F, and be cautious of other letters
We want something that is unique, but not un-pronounceable or easily misspelled.
We’d like it to match Berkeley, in a way that it is a name that people know, but not many kids are named.Some of our contenders include:
Keaton – this is my husband’s favorite, but I’m worried it will rise in popularity, especially with the -on ending
Dashiell – we both like it, but are worried about mispronunciation/spelling
Tegan – I like it, my husband doesn’t
Milen – I like it, my husband doesn’t
Milo – my husband hates it, but I love it.The biggest issue for us, is that we can’t come together on any names!! Please help us, if you can!! I’m desperate to get the name checked off my list. Thanks!
I like Keaton with Berkeley. It’s hard to predict what a name will do, but a good sign is that it appeared on the Top 1000 three years after Family Ties started airing, but it’s spent the last thirteen years hovering in the 300s and not climbing any higher (source: Social Security Administration).
More possibilities (I’m avoiding GAG, HAG, NAG, RAG, and VAG as well as FAG—and I’m not sure about BAG, LAG, SAG, and WAG):
Barnaby Alan Gross (BAG)
Cabot Alan Gross (CAG)
Caspian Alan Gross (CAG)
Crockett Alan Gross (CAG)
Darwin Alan Gross (DAG)
Deacon Alan Gross (DAG)
Everest Alan Gross (EAG)
Langston Alan Gross (LAG)
Lennox Alan Gross (LAG)
Maguire Alan Gross (MAG)
Orion Alan Gross (OAG)
Sullivan Alan Gross (SAG)
Truman Alan Gross (TAG)
Walker Alan Gross (WAG)
Warner Alan Gross (WAG)
I don’t see Keaton getting uber popular, even though it has the -n ending. I love Swistle’s suggestion of Deacon. I know a little baby Deacon and he is just sooo cute so now I can totally see it on a baby.
Zander/Xander? I also like Walker and Keaton from the suggestions in the post. Maybe Colby, Anderson, or Declan?
My suggestion is either Spencer or Clarke
Clarke Allen Gross (CAG)
Spencer Allen Gross (SAG)
Oh I love, love, love the suggestion of Langston. Such a great name!
I’m liking Keaton from your list and Walker from Swistle’s. Good luck!
I love Dashiell and Deacon, but DAG is also a mild swear in some parts of the country. (I’ve heard it in Pittsburgh and Washington DC – it’s a little harsher than darn, but sort of what you let your teenager say instead of d@mn.)
MAG, on the other hand, brings up positive associations – Magnus, magnify … so I’m voting for Milo or Maguire – great names, both!
I’d expect Tegan to be Berkeley’s sister, so I’m ruling it out for that reason.
Best wishes.
While I don’t know how popular Keaton will get, it feels more popular than it is to me, because of the abundance of similar names currently high in the rankings.
I think Dashiell is incredibly handsome, but I’m hesitant about pairing it with Berkeley – if I heard of a Berkeley and Dashiell, I might assume that they were both boys. You might like Cassius (CASH-us), which has a similar sound. Cassius Alan Gross.
Of Swistle’s suggestions, I really like Darwin, Orion and Truman. They are unusual, but still familiar, and match well with Berkeley. However, the repeating N endings they would give with Alan in the middle would bother me, personally. Would it bother you?
Swistle’s idea of Everest reminds me of Everett, which in turn reminds me of Emmett. I think both Everett and Emmett are very handsome and would make good brothers to Berkeley.
Everett Alan Gross
Emmett Alan Gross.
My other suggestion is Redford, which in my opinion fits all your requirements and is incredibly handsome. The great nicknames of Red and Ford are bonuses.
Redford Alan Gross.
Good luck! Elvie
I like Keaton, but I love Swistle’s suggestions of Darwin (LOVE with Berkeley), Everest and Maguire (seems so cool to me). I also like the Redford and Walker above, but I think RAG/WAG would be a dealbreaker for me. Langston is interested, but again I’m not sure how I feel about LAG. I think Tegan and Milen are too gender neutral for a baby brother with a big sis named Berkeley. Fun choices!
My favorites are Keaton and Truman. Leaning towards Truman because TAG would be an awesome nickname option. Not as a child, but especially for a teenager, “Tag, You’re it.” That would be freaking cool!
Orion Alan Gross gravitates interest. (Ry is a fine and easy nickname, too). Excellent suggestion, Swistle!
Lawson Alan Gross has masculine weight… which is necessary if his sis is a Berkley.
Summit Alan Gross pairs well with Berkley and sounds rugged.
Cord Alan Gross has strength. And ‘CAG’ is not a word, so there are no jokes about his initials.
Finally, Davis Alan Gross seems familiar but not common.
Best wishes to you all as you await your new bundle of smiles!
I like Keaton very much for you. I also like Milen, Milo (and Miles?). And I like Swistle’s suggestion of Truman. In the same vein you might like:
Ashton
Burton
Paxton
Sawyer
Warren
Good luck!
I love the double whammy of Maguire with the initials of MAG! I know a Maguire, he’s adorable, has a twin brother named Kale if that is of interest (though I think I’d prefer the Cale spelling).
I would go for something a little more masculine. Berkeley is kind of ambiguous, so with a name like Teagan, I wouldn’t know who is the brother and who is the sister.
I love everyone’s input! Redford would make a great name…if I hadn’t grown up there! My husband and I both LOVED the name Davis, until we realized that it would just be plain cruel to name our children after two California cities/universities. I am intrigued by Maguire and Langston. I also like Walker and Xander. Although, after the affirmation that Keaton may not rise to great popularity, it’s really starting to grow on me. (Just as my husband has started leaning toward Dashiell, again!) I was in love with the name Tegan, but everyone makes a good point about the gender ambiguity of both names…and I think, now, that we should stick with something more masculine. My husband will be delighted to hear that our son just might have a name, at long last!
Have you thought about maybe using Allan as the first name and then calling him by his middle name? That gets rid of the -AG problem, and would open up more letters to you.
I was thinking what Elvie was thinking, re: Keaton feeling more popular than it is.
Maguire stood out to me too, and I didn’t even notice the MAG initials, but that would be a plus for me. You could use either Maguire or Magnus as the first name, and get two tie-ins to the nickname Mag, which a boy might like. Until I realized it sort of sounds like Meg…which is a little too feminine.
I like Dashiell from your list too, but I also thought of “Dag!” and “Daggonit!” But I grew up in the Pittsburg area in the 80’s, and haven’t heard either expression in years. Plus, you son really doesn’t have to share his middle name if any initial spellings bother him.
I always thought Tegan (or Teagan) was a girl’s name, sort of along the same style, but slightly more unusual than Megan. But I also felt Tatum was strictly a girl’s name too, and lately I have seen both Tegan and Tatum being considered for boys. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I don’t like too many boys’ names going to the girls, and on one hand it seems only fair for the reverse to happen, but on the other hand, I personally don’t care gender swapping names in either direction.
It’s all relative I guess. Tatum DOES sound masculine, like Tate. Tegan, however, due to the similarity to Megan, is decidedly feminine, IMO. I guess I sort of went off on a tangent there…
Big fan of Dashiell! As someone who as lived in many places and worked in many different environments, I have NEVER heard dag used as a swear word/expletive/interjection.
I also find Teagan to be feminine, maybe because I have only heard of it as a girl’s name.
k, I found myself wondering if I was imagining it, but really, I’ve heard dag often enough that I was pretty sure it was legit.
I Googled and discovered that dag is Australian in origin – and indeed, is an insult with a bathroom vibe. It didn’t hold Dag Hammarskjöld back, so I don’t know if it is a dealbreaker.
But Valerie, if you’re concerned about his initial spelling something, I love the suggestion of Alan SOMETHING G., known as A. Something … it sidesteps the word problem.
Of course that makes narrowing down your name choice even harder!
I know someone (an adult) with the same last name as you and his name is Tristan. Thought you might consider it because Truman is on your list.